Lady and gentlemen, sit back and learn from this tale of woe, of determination and grit and of improper installation of a water valve that caused me to almost, almost call in a pro for the first time to do a job at my home.
I installed copper plumbing at my raised foundation home about 10 years ago. I thought it was working well. Sunday I went into the crawl space to install insulation on the hot water lines. That's when, by chance, I discovered a leak in the threads of a 3/4" valve. It wasn't a gusher but over the unknown time it had dripped a wet and soaked puddle of mud lay under that leaker. Wednesday around 1PM I went under the house with my torch, copper pipe and an assortment of tools that would rival Home Depot's set up. I was prepared for any contingency. But back to the problem.
I installed that threaded valve so I could shut off the water to the far end of my long, ranch-style home if I had to work on the main bath. This way the close end of the house would still have water. Smart thinking, eh? Alas, not to be.
The piping did not, I repeat, did not include unions on either side of the threaded valve. Yea, I am a solder sinner, an installation yo yo. Thus, I had to cut out the valve, which I did with my handy-dandy thumb-sized piper cutter as the regular one was to large to turn next to the floor joists. Are you aware of the amount of water in the cold water lines? I thought it would never stop. But it did after some time. I had a spare seven-foot piece of 3/4" copper pipe left over from the re-piping job and cut that to size, got two stopless couplers so they'd slide up the pipe, shined it up with emery cloth, fluxed it and put my MAPP torch on it. It looked purty and I was pleased the job went so well. I turned on the street valve, the shut off valve and went under the house to check the work. The soldered fittings worked perfectly. However, there was a pinhole leak in the copper pipe I installed that was shooting water. I could have chosen the other end of the pipe, couldn't I? It was 50-50 on which end to use. But how would I know?
So after a sufficient amount of time spent cursing at the pipe and my luck, I cut that one out and remeasured and cut the left over pipe to size. I went to the hardware store to get more couplers.
Then I went under the house after shutting off the two valves. The water this time didn't stop draining even after some time leading me to think that the shutoff valves were allowing water to pass. So I crawled back out and dismantled the water pressure regulator which stopped the water flow. Back under the house.
I waited until it was drip, drip, drip and decided to go ahead, still wonder where the water was coming from.
I soldered that pipe in but it took some time and the solder didn't flow well. I went outside, hooked up the pressure regulator, turned on the two valves and went back under the house.
Old Faithful was a piker compared to what I saw gushing under the house. Three leaks were going everywhere, creating a bog, a swamp under my casita. I crawled back out and shut those valves off and went under so see what I had done, or not done. Both ends of the solder job leaked as well as a joint I had soldered in the original installation. I had not wrapped a wet rag on it, not even thinking about it. I almost cried. There I was, seven o'clock by now and no water to the house.
I got something to eat and went to Home Depot, my Levi's wet and mud caked, a pitiful sight, and I asked a plumber what I should do about the problem I had laid out to him. He suggested I use a flexible pipe, the kind that goes onto a water heater to connect the lines and fit that in. So I bought two lengths that had female fittings and also two 3/4" male adapters. I went home, crawled under the house and installed the male adapters but now with a new can of MAPP gas. The solder seemed to flow well and I threaded on the flexible connector, tightened the ends and turned on the two outside valves. One end of the flexible connect held, the other leaked. I surmise that water was still the line and I was boiling water on that end. It was midnight and I was done.
I was filthy and couldn't take a shower. I used the water from a one gallon water jug to soak a wash cloth and scrubbed as best I could. I hit the sack but slept poorly, probably getting 3-4 hours.
At eight I went back to Home Depot after I hit the local hardware store whose owner didn't know a male adapter from his elbow. At HD I found another plumber who after I had told him my story asked if I had put bread in the pipes to hold back the water. Wonder bread. I hadn't thought of it. That would have done it for the second go-around at repairing the situation and I was ashamed that I hadn't thought of it. Then he suggested Sharkbite couplers, saying they hardly fail. That wasn't good enough for me. I pressed him. "What do you mean by 'hardly fail?'" He said if installed correctly and the pipe is round and square they work. He even offered a tool that takes off the press-on fitting. I bit. I had to. I bought another hot water heater flexible pipe that had a Sharkbite fitting on one end and a threaded female fitting on the other. Seemed exactly right for the job at hand.
I went home and crawled under the house with the pipe and fittings. I pushed on the Sharkbite fitting but it didn't feel as if it went in all the way. Then I pushed the short length of 3/4" pipe onto which earlier I had soldered on the 3/4" male adapter. That didn't appear to go in all the way. So I looked at it hard, I may have prayed, and leaned up under the joists, abs straining, grasped the two ends of the pipes inside the Sharkbite and pushed them together with all the might I had left. They went click-click. Click-click. The sound was like news that I had won the lottery, like Selma Hayak said yes to my advances. Again, I almost cried. I threaded the other end to the male adapter and tightened it, really tightened it and turned on the two shutoff valves. I may have said a Hail Mary, don't remember, but I was hoping that I had, at last, fixed the problem.
I crawled under the house and yes, the connections held. No leaks at solder joints or the threaded fitting. I was ecstatic, exhausted and I was filthy. I left my tools there and went into the house for a hot shower. I turned on the faucet and the shower basin began to fill up with water. There was a clog in the drain that didn't even hint before that there was a problem. I poured about a cup of drain cleaner into the mess and waited for a few minutes. The drain was still clogged. I snaked it, got down as far as I could with it and still it was clogged. Then it came to me out of the blue, a vision like at Lourdes: pour a pot of boiling into the drain. I filled a cauldron-like Wolfgang Puck pot with water and heated that baby till it was boiling hot. I poured that down the drain and heard a small gurgle. I figured that was a start and it needed more boiling water to get the last of the clog. Mind you, I'm nekkid doing this, but what the hell, it's my house. So I boiled more water and poured that down the drain. The gurgle became a swoosh, a loud pipe clearing swoosh. I turned on the faucet and the water went down the drain. I was a happy boy, if filthy. I took a hot shower and hit the sack and slept for a long time.
The repair is not up to code. I mean, one is not supposed to use hot water tank flex pipe for this kind of job. It holds but it's not the way it should be done. So sue me.
Lessons learned: Get some Wonder bread; install unions on either side of threaded fittings, especially the main line under the house; use Sharkbite fittings when under the house; have a lot of money and call a plumber.
Trueheart
